The other day, I realized that I took my first creative writing class 30 years ago as a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Yikes. That got me thinking about what I’ve learned along the way. Today marks the first part in a new 3-part series this inspired: What I Wish I’d Known Then. Part […]
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How I Resuscitated My Memoir In the midst of the end-of-the-school-year chaos, I realized it was time to resuscitate my current memoir. How did I know? My book kept popping into my consciousness, giving me little nudges that it wanted my attention. For a long time, this memoir’s been on life support. It’s been a […]
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With Mother’s Day this Sunday, I wanted to share a piece for anyone grieving their mother or any other loved one. I wrote this for Huffington Post a few years ago in the hopes that it would help normalize the grief we feel around holidays. Reclaiming Mother’s Day As Mother’s Day approaches, I feel an […]
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Today, I wanted to talk to you about word count. Like many others at the moment, I’m reading Rachel Hollis’ new book, Girl, Stop Apologizing, and one of the things she talks about is her super-human-powered focus when it comes to writing (as well as, um, pretty much everything else). She focuses on word count, […]
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Starting (or restarting) a writing routine can be one of the most stressful parts of writing. Here are 5 tips to get you up and running as quickly and easily as possible. Tip #1: Don’t wait for inspiration. One of the biggest myths out there is that writers wait for inspiration, which then beams down, […]
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Last week, we covered some of the scary questions that arise when we’re writing memoir. Today’s question–What if My Story Doesn’t Matter?!–is one we all grapple with at some point. Some folks get stuck here, only writing a few words. Others feel the cold fear of this dagger as they’re getting ready to share their […]
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